VILLANOVA, PA. — The Old Dominion players and coach Mike Jones are convinced this will help them in the long run. And most of them had plenty of time to mull it over on the loooong ride home.
Of course, they would’ve loved had things turned out differently than a four-point loss to Drexel Sunday, followed by Tuesday’s 89-75 loss to Big East power and three-time national champion Villanova on the suburban Philadelphia Main Line.
If not for a late first half and early second stretch that turned a tie game into an 11-point deficit, maybe things might’ve even gone that way.
“We didn’t play well to start the half and they did,” said Jones, whose 3-5 Monarchs — again playing without injured leading scorer KC Shaw — got 19 points from Jordan Battle and 11 from Robert Davis Jr. “Obviously they made adjustments to start the half and we didn’t respond to that.
“They made a couple of shots from guys who haven’t been making 3s. You pick your poison. We picked wrong.”
Sitting alongside him was assistant coach Odell Hodge, who had more on his mind than simply what was on the scoreboard. That’s because he was going through the emotional ringer of having to coach against his son, Villanova freshman Matt Hodge.
“It was a surreal moment for myself and my family,” said Hodge, who watched Matt score 12 points and grab seven rebounds as ODU fell for the fourth time in the last five games. “You want to see him do well, but you want my team to win the game.
“I felt we played well the first half, then came out in the second and had a few turnovers, which is unacceptable. But we’re going to get better because of this game.”
Indeed, the Monarchs started off shooting the ball well and were tied at 36 late in the half before Villanova scored the final four points to close out the half. The Wildcats then went on a 7-0 tear after intermission, forcing Jones to call timeout to regroup.
It didn’t help. Villanova continued to knock down 3-pointers, then when ODU came out to challenge on the perimeter it enabled Tyler Perkins (21 points), Acaden Lewis (20) and Hodge to drive to the hoop for layups and draw free throws.
After the margin reached 68-52 with 10:31 left, the Monarchs went on an 8-0 run over the next two minutes, cutting it to 68-60 on Jared Turner’s free throws. But that was as close as they got, Villanova quickly re-establishing a healthy double-figure lead, which enabled Matt Hodge to have some fun with his Dad as time was winding down.
“Toward the end when we had a comfortable lead I started chirping a bit,” Matt admitted. “But before that I was keeping it business. Most important having him in the stands. The last game he saw me play was the state championship game two years ago.
“But it’s not fun having him as an opponent. I’d rather have him wearing my jersey and supporting me.” ‘
Hodge wasn’t the only Monarch going against a familiar face. ODU center Caelum Swanton-Rodger was facing Kevin Willard, his coach from both were at Maryland. He said while Willard’s Wildcats ran many of the same plays and defenses as when he played for the Terps, although there was one difference.
“It was mostly fun watching him yell at other people instead of me for once,” he laughed. “But they still press all game, ran the zone we used to run and a lot of the offense was very similar to what we ran.
“But I think this trip is going to be huge for us, especially come conference play. We’ve played some heavy teams this year and once we get into conference play we should be able run through it.”
Jones won’t go quite that far, but feels this will pay off down the road.’
“No doubt about it,” said Jones, whose club shot well behind the arc (47.8%) but was done in by Villanova’s 53.6% marksmanship. “Losing a close game at Drexel there’s a lot of things we can learn from it. And here going toe-to-toe with them for a lot of the game they exposed some things we have to continue to do better at.
“But these games will truly help us be better prepared for some of our Sun Belt Conference clashes.”
The only difference for Odell Hodge, Swanton-Rodger and the rest: They won’t be playing any more Family Feuds.
